Parents Warned On Teen Drinking

May 14, 1991

CHICAGO — Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Mayor Richard Daley and other officials warned Chicago-area parents Monday to monitor their teenagers during prom and graduation season to help prevent alcohol- and drug-related traffic deaths.

At a news conference, Daley and Secretary of State George Ryan emphasized education of parents and teenagers to prevent the increase of traffic deaths during the party season of May and June. But Cook County State`s Atty. Jack O`Malley talked tough about the felony charge of reckless homicide.

Drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 make up 8 percent of all drivers in the United States, but they represent 15 percent of the fatalities in alcohol- related crashes, officials said. In 1989, 3,374 people in that age group were killed in alcohol-related crashes.